middleagedgamer
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I am SHOCKED that this hasn't been posted already! It's about a week old!
Federal Court Rules DOMA Sec. 3 Violates Equal Protection - Poliglot
VICTORY!
Federal Court Rules DOMA Sec. 3 Violates Equal Protection - Poliglot
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Tauro, appointed to the federal bench in 1972, ruled this afternoon in Gill v. Office of Personnel Management that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act violates the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. A companion decision in Massachusetts v. U.S. Dep't of Health and Human Services also was issued, with Tauro finding that DOMA also violates the Tenth Amendment and the Spending Clause of the Constitution.
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The decisions appear to be a broad validation of Massachusetts and GLAD's arguments and are certain to set up a more difficult appeal than had Judge Tauro only found one ground to strike down Section 3.
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Section 2, which purports to give states the authority to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages legally entered into in other states, is not at issue in either of the cases.
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As to why the Fifth Amendment is implicated, it is how the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is applied to the federal government. Sometimes referred to as "reverse incorporation," it is the opposite of incorporation -- or application -- of the Bill of Rights to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Incorporation was the reason why the U.S. Supreme Court found the Fourteenth Amendment to require that the Second Amendment be applied to the states in last week's decision regarding Chicago's gun law.
It would be very unlikely that the federal government would not appeal the ruling in this case. GLAD's Mary Bonauto concurred on a conference call following the ruling: "I fully expect the government will appeal." Such a move, however, is likely to subject President Obama to criticism from some quarters.
VICTORY!